They're My Family
by JadenotherGems
Summary: A reworking of "A Mother's Work" The Niner's are out for Revenge at the same time Gemma confronts Tara. Can the bonds of family pull everyone through the tragedy and beyond?
1. Chapter 1

"Wayne, is that you?" Tara only got a few steps before she realized that it was not Unser who was in her house. In a split second, her mind processed all the clues she had initially missed. There was the smell of bleach that lingered in the air. The washer Tara had been bugging Jax to replace rattled along with the dryer from the back of the house. The ironing board and iron were out. She was pretty sure about the only reason her husband even knew the name of those items was because of Gemma.

It made sense. When she was stressed her mother-in-law was a compulsive cleaner. Tara had bested her. Got away with the boys. Jax, she was positive had been furious. She still wasn't sure what had changed his mind. All the guys were sure she was turning rat. Well, she was, to get her and the boys away.

The look in Gemma's eyes when she met Tara's frightened the young woman more than any of the other times they had confronted each other. Gemma was forbidding enough on any given day. However, right now the woman looked disconnected, feral and enraged. She instantly knew there would be no arguing, no reasoning. The only out was to get to the door. At least, Eli was there.

Tara quickly spun around and made a dash for the door. "Damn, but that woman moves fast, spiked heels and all," she thought as Gemma closed in. Suddenly, there was a crash from the back of the house, stopping them both where they stood. Tara was near the sink, Gemma only a couple of feet away.

Two young black men dressed in Niner's colors ran from the back door. "There she is." One shouted thrusting his gun towards Tara.

"You're gonna pay for what your old man and his friends did, bitch." They opened fire.

It was probably the stress of the last few days, or overload from dealing with Gemma. For whatever reason, Tara froze in place. She heard a voice scream her name, followed by an arm wrapping across her chest forcing her to the ground behind the breakfast bar. Tara hurt her bad hand when she landed, but she supposed it was better than the alternative.

"I think that was Padilla's old lady. She goes down, too." One of the men sneered. The sounds of the guns were getting louder, which meant the shooters were getting closer. The sound of splintering wood echoed through the house.

Tara tried to look around. She couldn't see anything with Gemma's hair falling in her face. Before she could process the fact that it was actually her mother-in-law who saved her ass, Eli Roosevelt and Juice broke through the front door.

The din gunfire reached a quick crescendo then there was a deafening silence. Tara was yanked to her feet and shoved towards Juice and Roosevelt. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the two men's bodies lying on the floor of her living room before she was shoved outside.

"Anymore in there?" asked Roosevelt.

Gemma shook her head no.

"Niner's? What the hell was that about?" Juice holstered his gun.

"Don't know. They were after Tara. Said it was for something Jax did." Gemma just kept shaking her head back and forth.

"Hey, they weren't just after me. They just didn't know you were going to be there. But you were on their list too." Tara dropped her face into her hands realizing how petulant she just sounded.

"What could've Jax done to Marks?" Juice whispered to Gemma.

Gemma leaned close to Juice, "I don't think he knew. These two were too clumsy. Marks wouldn't do something like this if he had a major point to get across to someone."

"Cane, I need a crime scene unit at the Teller house, two shot and killed." Roosevelt called the station, "_Jax_ Teller house."

She might have been offended by the fact that Eli didn't need to give an address. However, the adrenaline was wearing off, and she was feeling a dreadful burning pain in her stomach. She pressed her hands up against the hole in ripped into her abdomen. The blood flowed through her fingers at an alarming rate.

"I'm sorry. I didn't move fast enough." Tears welled up in Tara's eyes looking at the blood on her shirt."


	2. Chapter 2

For brief few seconds, it felt like their world existed in a vacuum, devoid of all sound. Birds chirped without voice. Cars moved soundlessly around them. Time existed in an altered state. Blood drops fell in slow motion collecting into a small puddle. Then the air collapsed back into place, allowing sound to return. Time returned to normal.

Juice watched as the woman in front of him pitched forward, her body no longer capable of holding her. Later, he remembered thinking it was not like you saw on TV or movies where the person softly crumples to the ground.

"Gemma!" he ran forward letting the woman who had become his surrogate mother fall into him.

"I'll get my bag and some towels." Tara dashed back into the house. While she was collecting her stuff, she called Jax telling him what she could and to meet them at St. Thomas.

Eli laid the back seat down in his police SUV and radioed the hospital. He and Juice then carefully loaded Gemma in the vehicle.

"I'm…fine," her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I know you are we're just going to take you to the hospital to make sure." Juice wasn't sure when the last time was that he felt such an overwhelming sense of dread as when Gemma nodded okay. He only knew her to go to the hospital for herself twice. Once she was unconscious. The second time was for the supposed car crash. From what he understood it wasn't easy getting her to do that.

Tara threw in her bag and the towels then scrambled in the back of the vehicle. "Go!" she shouted. The two braced themselves as Eli hit the accelerator and the siren.

Jax held Thomas a little tighter against him as he hung up the phone. He looked around the room at each of his brothers until his gaze found Wayne Unser nursing a beer at the end of the counter. He found his composure starting to slip.

Wayne looked up from his drink, "What is it son?"

Everyone in the room had now stopped what they were doing waiting to hear what had Jax so rattled. "That was, uh, Tara. When she got to the house, Gem. Mom was there. They got in an argument…"

"Oh shit. What did she do?" Wayne felt partly responsible for anything that might have happened.

When Jax looked back up there were tears standing in his eyes, "A couple of Niners broke into the back of the house looking for Tara. They started shooting."

After an uncomfortable silence, Chibs asked, "Is Tara okay Jackie?"

"Yeah, Tara's fine, Roosevelt, Juice came in killed both shooters."

"Gemma, what about Gemma?" Wayne concern showing in his face.

"Tara said that she froze. Gemma got her out of the way. Mom's been shot. Tara's says it looks real bad. We need to go to St. Thomas."

"What's the matter Daddy?" Abel wrapped his arms around Jax's leg.

"Everything is going to be okay, I…" he floundered.

Of all people, Chuckie stepped forward, the others too much in shock to offer anything, "Grandma's not feeling very good right now, but Mommy is taking her to the hospital. Your Daddy is going to go check on both while you and your brother sit here with me and…?"

"Me and eat more ice cream." Rat volunteered. This freed up the others to go to the hospital without worry to check on Gemma and find out what the hell happened.

"I've got to call Nero," he had no knowledge of what had happened between Gemma and Nero earlier. "Shit, no answer."

"I'll call Lyla. Have her keep trying. You go. I'll catch up." Tig looked like a lost child.

"You gonna be alright Tig?" Bobby patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. This is Gemma we're talking about. She's strong. She can get through anything."

"Nothing stupid Tig. No going out on your own." Chibs warned.

"No, I'll be right behind you." Tig was still off from what happened to Dawn. No one was sure what he might do if something happened to Gemma.

Nero sighed when he felt the vibration of his phone again. "I am very sorry, but I should take this. I could be about my son. Fiasco should be able to handle things for a minute."

Stepping to the back of the restaurant, he pulled his phone, scrolling the caller ID. The first four were from Jax. Nero scoffed. The next several was from Lyla. Now he was worried. Before he could dial out the phone began to vibrate again.

"Yeah?"

"Nero," Lyla was crying, "Nero there's been an accident."

"Lucius, is he okay? Please tell me…" he could not hide the panic in his voice.

"No Nero, its Gemma."

The air in the room suddenly felt too thick and hot. "W, What about Gemma?"

"They're taking her to St. Thomas." Lyla sobbed. God knows she been on the receiving end of the Matriarch's, (even if Tara was the new queen all of them still considered Gemma the Matriarch), temper before, however the woman tried to help her and Opie out. Plus they had bonded since Opie died, and she had decided to keep his children. Diosa provided them many opportunities for chats.

Nero was generally a patient man, but right now he just wanted to know what had happened, "Lyla! What happened to Gemma?"

"She's been shot Nero. It's bad."

He hadn't even hung up from Lyla when he sat down in the cab of his pickup, trying to put the key in the ignition with shaky hands. Guilt, anger and heartache boiled inside him like a poisonous cocktail as the day's events played out in his head. Finally, the engine roared to life, and Nero sped off as fast as the truck would go.

Tara had cut Gemma's shirt open then used a towel to remove the excess blood, so she could get a better look at the wound. Gemma couldn't stifle the groan. "Sorry," Tara said absently, glancing up. The woman had a ghostly pallor, and her breathing shallow.

When she had cleared enough of the blood away she found the hole was bigger than she expected. There was another anomaly, the edges were ragged. Tara leaned closer, probing into the opening. "Shit," she muttered under her breath, "Juice; I need your help."

The young man had been trying to look anywhere but down at what was going on. It wasn't that he was squeamish; he was just felt a little uncomfortable after Tara cut Gemma's shirt open. He wasn't sure why. Most of the shirts she wore were pretty revealing, but it didn't seem right.

"Juice!" Tara yelled realizing what the problem was, "This is no time to get shy on me. I need you to help me with Gemma.

The boy nodded, "What do you need?"

"I need you to roll her onto her side facing you."

Juice tried to be careful. However, he still heard her wince. He could also feel her shaking. "Why she is doing that?"

"Shock, from the blood loss." She lifted the back of Gemma's shirt, finding a small bullet hole confirming her suspicions. "It's a fucking exit wound. Lay her back down."

"She's going to be okay though, right?" his eyes glassy. Tara's eye could were always able to say a thousand things at once, and right now they told Juice all he needed to know.

While she fought to staunch the blood flow, Tara found herself getting madder and madder at her patient. She thought she had her mother-in-law all figured out. Strong, iron willed, willful, deceitful, a liar, and a murderer willing to do anything to keep the deck stacked in her favor. This did not make sense. "Dammit, Gemma, what the hell were you thinking."

The doctor didn't think the Matriarch could even respond let alone would, so she was shocked when she saw her mouth move. She had to lean down to hear her over the siren. She was even more puzzled.

"What did she say?" asked Juice.

"No one messes with my family."


	3. Chapter 3

That was her responsibility after all; to keep her family and the club safe and running. Even if that meant things were predicated on the soft, shifting sands of deceit. Sometimes those lies caused people to get hurt, sometimes people died. It's the life. Most people's allies are your enemies. People look at you differently. You had to be strong to get through it. Tough decisions have to be made. Always having to be one with the steel backbone when situations were tough. The one who had to turn off their emotions and whisper, (after all she didn't have an actual say), the harsh truths of what needed to be done. You take care of and protect what is yours because you could lose it at any minute. Funerals are common place. You have love, but not happiness, because there are always strings. Love cemented with the secrets and lies you hold in check for one another. So if you did get a little bit of happiness, you grabbed a hold of it tightly. It was what she has done since she was 18.

Gemma tried to focus on the woman feverishly working to save her. Tara wanted out. She had never settled into Club life. She could never accept the realities that came with being married to Jax. Tara had grown stronger and more resourceful under Gemma's tutelage. However, the role of Old Lady and Queen were just that; roles. She never grew into them.

Tara had seen and lived in the world where things like that didn't happen. Lies weren't the norm. Death wasn't a companion. Lockdowns didn't happen. Compared to the life she had now, it was Mayberry, Smalltown, USA. That's why she couldn't understand how the boys could be brought up in an environment like the Club. A different world had existed for her at one time. Damn there could be some amazing clarity in pain. She knew that there could be happiness somewhere else.

Tara felt something lightly brush her leg. "I think I understand now." Gemma whispered.

She bit back a cry of pain when the vehicle took a corner too sharp and hit a curb. There was an apology from the front. It seemed miles away. Her mind began to drift trying to find its way back to the last thought.

Happiness! That was it. She had found love and happiness in one package. Outside of the Club. Nero loved her. She didn't have to always be the strong one. He knew she was far from perfect. He knew her darkest secret and he came back. He knew many of her secrets. He didn't care. He loved _her. _

Then something happened. He wanted to leave, to come with him. She almost said yes. But she couldn't go because Jax needed her, (she was afraid). She was afraid because in the end John betrayed her with Maureen. Clay betrayed her with his lies and his fists. She always had the club to fall back on, her boys to take care of. Stepping away with Nero meant that her safety net would be gone. Would he ever betray her? He never wanted to be a part of the club. It happened because of her. It didn't matter now. He was gone.

Gemma envisioned the chasm she and Nero had been trying to straddle since they met. Hooks and lines running from her to the Club, to the boys, to Jax and his sons, and to Nero. While she pulled those lines trying to keep the gaps from widening, the lines began to snap. The result of those broken lines is cuts to her. Some emotional some physical. Unfortunately in the recoil others got cut in the process also. It was a nasty web that either trapped or hurt and she was at the center. It didn't matter that some of the hooks were in her rather than the other way around. Damn, there could be some amazing clarity in pain. She decided to let herself fall.

Gemma's words kept tumbling around in Tara's brain while she was trying to work on the woman. Why would she say something like that? After all the lies, manipulations and games to outright threats what would make her include her as part of the family. Sure they were close at one time. Friends even. In that moment, an epiphany hit Tara. Could Gemma be angry that she was leaving too, not just the Jax and the boys?

"Gemma!" the panic in Juice's voice caused Tara to refocus, "Gemma!"

Gemma's eyes had rolled back in her heard. The trembling had stopped, her breathing was slowing. She was giving up. Tara started to rub her knuckles firmly against her mother-in-law's collar bone while shouting her name. There was no response. "Don't you do this to me you stubborn bitch. I am not going to be the one who loses you and I am not going to be the reason." Tara shrieked.

Nero had made record time to St. Thomas. He saw the row of bikers waiting at the emergency entrance. He threw his truck into park not caring that he was taking up multiple parking spaces as he ran up to meet Roosevelt's approaching vehicle.

Tara could be heard yelling when Eli drove up. The emergency team pulled open the back and loaded Gemma on to the stretcher. Tara got out and began giving medical history and a rundown to the doctors. Her shirt had blood on it as did Juice's jeans.

Nero shoved his way through the crowd that lined the entrance. "Gemma!" He ran up beside the gurney.

"Were sorry sir you need you to step aside and let us do or job," one of the nurses said.

"Mama no," leaned over placing his hands on his legs.

It was him. It was Nero. He was still here. "Stop, wait. Nero," Gemma called out weakly. She had to see him. "Nero," she began to thrash and struggle.

"Ma'am please you need to calm down. You're making things worse. Please," a nurse pleaded. All the movement had made her start hemorrhaging again.

"No. Don't touch me," Gemma was managed to get some authority to her voice. She grabbed Tara's hand.

"Gemma, you have to let them treat you." Tara knew the women was stubborn, but she couldn't figure out what brought on this display.

She shook her head, "No treatment," her words came out in gasps, "Nero."

The young woman looked down to the far end of the hallway to see Padilla still leaning over against the wall. Gemma held onto her hand a little bit longer, "Take care of our boys."

Tara felt a shiver crawl up her spine as she ran down the hall, "Nero you need to come with me, Gemma is refusing any treatment until she sees you."

"I should have known it was you causing all this trouble." He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it, "Now behave yourself and let the doctors do what they need to okay Mama?"

Now that he was here, Gemma found she had no words left. Her strength gone, her energy expended. All she could do is look up at him. Her frustration manifested in tears.

He watched the emotions run across her face. "It's okay Mama, I understand. But I'm not going anywhere."

Dr. Keith Arkam turned to Tara as the approached the doors to the trauma ward with the red and white sign "Authorized Personnel Only beyond this Point."

"You better let him go. This is my mother-in-law. I know her." He raised his eyebrows briefly before swiping his card to open the doors. There weren't many people at St. Thomas who hadn't heard stories about Tara and Gemma.

Nero did his best to stay out of the way while the medical staff did their work. They had to clean blood off to attach the pads for the heart monitor leads. The nurse put on an oximeter that was held with adhesive so it wouldn't accidentally be pulled off in the commotion. Gemma groaned in pain when they moved her to her side to look at the entrance wound then moved her back.

"I got no usable veins here," someone called out.

"We're going to have to use the neck. Get those IV's in now," shouted one of the doctors.

"Check and see on the status of the OR. I need in there stat." Arkam barked.

Gemma thought back to Nero's words, "I'm not going anywhere." She saw Lucius's name on his neck. Again she flashed to the image of the lines with the hooks forming the spider web, tying her to the club, tying people to her. She was willing to let go of Jax's line now. She wanted to let go of the Club's line, but that hook was in deep and it was in Nero now too. Could they both get out together, or would she have to let Nero go to make sure he and his son made it out safely? Her hand went slack in his.

"O2 sats are dropping. Blood pressure is bottoming out," the heart monitor sounded an alarm as she went into tachycardia.

"No Mama, hold on" Nero leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry. You both need to leave now." Arkam gestured toward the door.

When Tara and Nero arrived in the waiting room they were met with hopeful faces. Those were quickly dashed when they saw the expressions on the pair's faces. Tara stepped forward still in her bloody blue shirt and bloody hands, "It's not good. She took the bullet in the back and it exited out her abdomen. The way she was bleeding, I don't know for sure, but I would have to say the bullet damaged an internal organ," her professional demeanor began to waiver, her voice breaking.

Jax came over and wrapped her in his arms, "I'm sorry babe. I'm so sorry."

She shoved him away angrily, "You should be. This is your fault. They said it was because of something you did and you too. They said they were going after Gemma next anyway." She turned her anger around on Nero.

"Tara, I have no idea why Marks would send someone after you. As far as I knew we were all good."

"I think Gemma was right, these guys were too stupid and clumsy to be sent by Marks. They were just some low lever Niner's out for some sort of retaliation." Juice had changed out of his bloody jeans into scrubs.

"Niner's? This was Niner's?" Nero's world swam out of focus. He felt like he was breathing in mud. Padilla managed to pinball his way off the doorway and walls to the near-by bathroom and into the stall where he began to throw up.

_"__Do you believe in Karma?" _echoed in Nero's head. He had thrown that in Jax's face earlier. Implied that all the bad shit that had been going down with Tara was because of what he did to Darvany. Now karma was laughing at him. He had done nothing when Alvarez and his crew had shot up the Niner's. Now the Niner's had gone after an innocent mother of two and in the process he may lose Gemma. She wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for him. Tara might not have been in danger if he would have said something. Every time he thought about it he started to throw up again until he had nothing left.

Eventually Nero pulled himself up off the floor of the bathroom and went over to the sink. He scrubbed his face with cold water several times trying to steel himself for what he had to do next. He had to tell Jax what happened. He was not going to let the Sons go to war with August Marks under false pretenses. He had known Alvarez a long time, but this was not going to stand. The war he was wanting was ridiculous. Nero could see it now. Jax was not trying to build and empire with Marks. His reason had shut down when he was convinced that he needed to do things for his own kind, brown helping brown. The Byz-Lats would have to choose with whom they stood; him or Marcus.

"Where's Jax?"

"He went outside." Tara had now cleaned up and changed into scrubs.

He found the biker president leaning against the side of the building smoking. "Hey Mano, I need to talk to you."

"You know what man; I'm really not up for…" Nero held up his hand interrupting him.

"You're going to want to hear this. Today after you left the buy, Marcus asked to see the guns. After he checked them out he handed over the money to the Niner's there, only it was food in the bags instead of cash. Alvarez's crew killed all those Niner's. I swear Jax I had now idea that was going down. But I was pissed at you for Darvany so I didn't give you a heads up. I never thought it would go down like this. I was still pissed when I found Gemma at Diosa. She wanted to talk. I told her no. When she got mad and started to walk out I asked her if she would give up everything and leave with me. I knew she wouldn't. Not with the boys missing. You as upset as you had been. But she hesitated. When she did tell me no, I told her I had to leave. She would have never been at your house if I hadn't been," he ran his hands over his face in frustration.

Jax slid down the wall trying to process the information he just heard. "Hey, I know you're going to be pissed man, I don't blame you. I am asking for two things here. I will do everything I can to help you get Alvarez and I need to you keep in mind, my son needs me. So whatever you're going to do to me after this, I need to be able to be there for him.

The young man sat smoking several cigarettes contemplating things before he spoke. "You know when I was looking for Tara, I was furious. She was going to pay for what she did. When I found her, I saw my terrified wife begging for one last chance to say good-bye to her sons. She knew the way it was supposed to be. She was supposed to die. Suddenly it was so clear. I told her to take our sons and go. Get them out of here. Some place safe. I decided I would turn myself in on the gun charges if Tara and the Club got a pass. She came back so I could spend my last day with my boys. She almost got killed because of it.

I think I am starting to believe in your karma now. I messed with you and mom's relationship for my own selfish gains. I needed to manipulate Clay and I knew she was his one weakness. This kept her involved in my and Tara's life which caused constant conflict with the two of them. Made Tara pull away more, didn't help Mom's spiral after what happened with Clay. The game just kept getting more and more complicated.

I lie to you, starts to cause conflict between you and mom. Lies breeding hate. I didn't care how anyone else felt. I was angry hateful. I was becoming more than what I hated. Even with trying to get out of guns. The cost of everything was going up. Lives: Piney, Opie, V-Lin, Phil, even Clay."

Jax stood up and faced Nero, "If Mom hadn't have been there, Tara would have been dead. My boys would have been without their mother. I would have lost my wife." He tried to stop tears that were threatening, "Mom is strong. She's going to make it. She'll be fine."

Nero had his faith in God. It had got him through many things including his addiction, however right now he didn't find that it was strong enough to give Jax the reassurance he needed. He felt something change when he was in that room with Gemma. She was letting go. He was going to lose her and he was slowly dying inside.

Jax saw it in Nero's eyes. He had seen it in Tara's when she had turned her anger on him. He may not have been the smartest man around but he knew part of what she was feeling was because she didn't think Gemma was going to make it and she felt like it was partly her fault. He was going to ask Nero what happened in the trauma room when he saw DA Patterson pull up.

Jax grabbed Nero's arm dragging him inside the hospital.


End file.
